


The Pleasant Death

by sartiebodyshots



Category: Falling Skies
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 10:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4218825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sartiebodyshots/pseuds/sartiebodyshots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom learns there are limits to Volm regeneration.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pleasant Death

            “I don’t understand,” Tom says in a forcibly steady voice.  “You can regenerate, right?  You’ll be okay.  You can survive poison.”

            “There are some compounds that are more difficult to recover from, and I have been severely injured as well.  If I entered a regenerative state, I would not wake up,” Cochise says.  He reaches up to gently brush away Tom’s tears.  “Please, do not cry.”

            Tom cradles Cochise’s head in his lap.  “You can’t die, Cochise.  You should have just let them take me.  I would have escaped somehow.”

            Cochise smiles up at him.  “It is okay, Tom.  I have lived a long and full life.  This is a beautiful planet to die on, and I am glad to be here with you.  My sacrifice will be worth it.”

            Tom holds his hand, blinking hard to keep from crying on Cochise again.  He can’t do this again; he can’t lose some key part of himself again.  “I need you.  There is so much I have to show you still.  You have to hold on until help comes, okay?  They’re on their way.”

            Cochise grunts and his face briefly contorts with pain.  “You have ensured I have experienced more than any Volm I know of.  My time here has been the happiest of my life.  Few Volm die as pleasantly as this, in the arms of someone they love, who they know loves them in return.  While I am sorry for leaving you, I am glad that this is how I die.”

            “We were gonna start a little garden.  I got the seeds.  You wanted to learn how to grow something,” Tom says.  He’s pleading with the world to let him keep this, to let him have Cochise.

            “I have never been able to help create life, only end life.  It was a novel thought,” Cochise says.  “You should still attempt to garden.”

            Tom presses his lips to Cochise’s forehead.  “The boys are going to miss you.”

            “I have enjoyed getting to know them, as I have enjoyed getting to know you.  Do not allow my death to extinguish the human spark within you.  It is beautiful,” Cochise says, and Tom can feel him getting more distant.  “Will you allow me to hold you again?  I have enjoyed holding you while you sleep, and it is painful to think of never doing so again.”

            “Are you sure?  I don’t want to hurt you any more than you already are,” Tom says.

            “I am dying, Tom.  It does not matter,” Cochise says.  “Please, allow me to hold you again.”

            Tom nods and shuffles so he’s laying down against Cochise, resting his head gingerly on Cochise’s chest.  He can hear how weak Cochise’s heart sounds. 

            Cochise wraps his arms around Tom slowly but snugly.  “I did not understand how this could be enjoyable at first, but I came to look forward to your rest cycles.”

            “Couldn’t wait for me to shut up, huh?” Tom tries to make a joke.

            “I could not wait to have you to myself.  I could not wait to see you restful and relaxed, at ease in a way you never had been while conscious,” Cochise says slowly, as if he’s thinking over which words to use.  “I understand that your life has been hard and you have plenty of reasons for your tenseness, but I enjoyed seeing the opposite.”

            “You always make me feel at ease, Cochise,” Tom says.  “You make me feel so safe.”

            “I am glad,” Cochise says, sighing deeply.  “You make me feel safe as well.”

            “I’m sorry,” Tom says.  “I’m sorry that I’m why you’re dying now.  I should have kept you safe.”

            “Do not blame yourself,” Cochise says.  “I would gladly sacrifice myself again to ensure you lived on, to ensure your offspring did not lose their father.”

            “We won’t forget you, I promise,” Tom says.  “We won’t forget everything you’ve done for us.”

            “If you can, bury me on Earth, please.  This is my home,” Cochise says.  “I do not wish to leave it.”

            “Of course,” Tom agrees quickly.  The idea of sending Cochise’s body away had never crossed his mind.

            “The poison is reaching the secondary language center of my brain.  Soon I will be unable to speak English, only incomprehensible Volm,” Cochise says quietly.  “I am sorry.  There is much else I should say to you.”

            “Don’t worry, just rest,” Tom says.

            “Soon, I will reach perpetual rest,” Cochise says.  “Thank you for remaining with me.”

            “I won’t leave you,” Tom says. 

            The next time Cochise starts talking, it’s Volm. It’s a beautiful language, at least when Cochise is speaking it.  He wants to listen to it for the rest of his life.

            Tom tilts his head so he can watch Cochise and reaches his hand up to cup Cochise’s face.  Even if he doesn’t know exactly what Cochise is saying, he can guess.  Things to absolve Tom of blame, too kind words of absolution for being the cause of a second lover dying. 

            Slowly, slowly, Cochise starts to speak less until he’s not saying anything at all.

            “I love you,” Tom fills in the gaps.  “You have always been such a gentle person, despite everything you must have seen.”  And so on.

            That’s how they find him, long after Cochise’s chest has stopped rising and falling beneath his cheek.  Tom’s throat had grown sore, so he had stopped talking.  Just being here with Cochise, curled up around him like always, seemed like enough.

            The people only kind of know Tom, don’t know Cochise, and they try to leave Cochise behind.  Tom fights and roars and threatens with a fire that he doesn’t feel until they make space in the vehicle for Cochise, too.  Cochise can’t be left behind.

            He holds his sons as they cry (or don’t, in Matt’s case), murmuring apologies and spilling tears of his own into their hair. 

            The Volm come for the body, but Tom refuses to let them take Cochise away.  Cochise wanted to be buried on Earth, and it’s some little thing Tom can do for him.  And whatever the Volm would do to his body, Tom is sure it would take him far, far away.  There’s something comforting in knowing that Cochise’s body will, eventually, become part of the Earth, just like Tom’s will one day. 

            They will be together again, in a way.

            He digs the grave himself, late at night and alone except for the moon watching him, and lays his body into the Earth himself, during the day with his boys next to him.  He slowly covers Cochise up with soil, saying goodbye to another person he’ll carry with him.


End file.
